Church of Misfits

WE > ME, Week One

Jesus invites misfits to become missionaries.

Matthew 4:18-22 NIV

[18] As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon
called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were
fishermen. [19] “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.”
[20] At once they left their nets and followed him.
[21] Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his
brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus
called them, [22] and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

From Preston Sprinkle,’s Charis:

God aggressively and delightfully values and uses thugs and misfits to build
His glorious kingdom: abrasive, thickheaded people like Peter, hotheaded racists
like James and John, violent brawlers and extortionists like Simon and Matthew, and
mentally deranged bag ladies like Mary Magdalene. He doesn’t give them a bowl of
soup and shuffle them out of the church. He gives them responsibility—the hallmark
of genuine value—and trusts in the God who uses the weak to shame the strong.
Grace isn’t a term. It’s not a doctrine. It’s not a buzzword. It’s not the words of a
song, a prayer before meals, a name plastered on our churches. It’s not leniency or
niceness. It’s not something that can be domesticated or completely understood.
And it’s something that can never grow old or stale.
Grace is what flows through the veins of Jesus, whose heart stubbornly beats
for you—a thug loved by the One who gladly endured the cross to bring you back to
Eden.

Jesus started building his church...

Matthew 16:18 NIV

I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
Jesus taught them, by personal example.

● How to pray and worship.

● How to heal and help.
● How to lead by serving.
● How to have greater faith.
● How to touch the untouchable.
● How to be a people of unshakable hope.

Then he died for the church, rose again, and asked the Father to send the Holy Spirit to
empower the church.

Ephesians 2:19-22 NIV

[19] You are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God's
people and also members of his household, [20] built on the foundation of the apostles
and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. [21] In him the whole
building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. [22] And in him
you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

Jesus commissioned the church to keep going.

● To LOVE God, no matter what.

● To LOVE people, no matter what.
● To use our gifts and to SERVE others.
● To spread HOPE, no matter what.

Jesus leads us forward today!

This is who we are! WE are greater than ME!

WE collect other misfits who need God’s grace.
WE share the truth and hope of the gospel.
WE care for the sick.
WE work to eradicate poverty.
WE work for justice of all kinds.

And WE can do this far better than ME alone, or you alone.